AN 



INAUGUKAL LECTUEE, 



ETC. ETC. 



GENTLEMEN, 



I am proud to ascend into this chair, 

 the most ancient in the College of France, 

 conspicuous for eminent men in the six- 

 teenth century, and occupied in our own 

 day by a scholar of such merit as M. 

 Quatremere. In founding the College of 

 France as a sanctuary for free science and 

 learning, King Francis the First laid down 

 as a constitutive law of this great establish- 

 ment, complete independence of criticism, 

 unbiased search after truth and impartial 

 discussion, bounded by no rules but those 

 of good taste and sincerity. Such, gentle- 

 men, is precisely the spirit which I would 



